Thursday, March 10, 2011

Fashion MAP's first contest is over. Dave Ward and I carefully reviewed every entry, discussed them at length, and decided we had two winners for our contest. Congratulations to Kristena Schildt and Olivia Ding! Their entries will both appear here in the Fashion MAP blog, and both will get to shoot with model Briauna Mariah, with Dave Ward Photography behind the camera.

Here is the winning entry written by Kristena Schildt.___________________________________________________

When the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week hit youtube, I had to watch it. Sadly, there was a flash plug in problem that didn’t allow me to actually watch the live presentation, so I had to wait until the next week to watch it. Going through many of the designers, many seemed to have a repetitive, dull look to me, even though the designs were relatively new. A few did stand out from the rest, but one designer brought the fiercest style: Betsey Johnson.

I must say, she is my ideal designer.

Betsey Johnson started off with the Spring/Summer collection, which was crazy and inventive. There were so many different time periods that popped up - the more modern 90’s, the amazing 80’s, those military pin-up 40’s, and some baby doll Victorian designs. It was as if we were put in a time machine and brought back to the good old times, but the designs were still up to date and one of a kind. The colors were crazy vibrant with the whole rainbow dancing down the runway. The introduction of the couples walking down, with a masculine and feminine outfit, was brilliant. Having two styles for one outfit gave options for which outfit would be better on a simple or elaborate day. This collection covered a full range of different outfits that just popped with life.

Now, the fall collection had two parts. It was a wonderful show using tall runway models as well as more ordinary people. In the beginning, there was the ‘He loves me not’ designs that were shown off by the runway models. The colors were rich, either complimenting or contrasting the other colors they were put with, but also very dark. All the designs were edgy with a classic look twisted to adapt to the modern day. Many regal looking outfits were mixed with some modern punk styled designs that would satisfy any dark, romantic day. Valentines Day was turned to the worst but still kept the romance of a punk. Next was the ‘He loves me.’ Ordinary people popped onto the runway with flashy clothing that would get any person’s attention. The radiant colors, elaborate prints, and dancing models made the clothing feel more real.

Betsey’s collections revive the classics with a fresh and new look while remaining true. The colors are crazy, and the looks are edgy, fierce, and fun. She is a designer everyone should look into as a favorite!

Friday, March 04, 2011

Fashion MAP's first contest is over. Briauna Mariah and I carefully reviewed every entry, discussed them at length, and decided we had two winners for our contest. Congratulations to Kristena Schildt and Olivia Ding! Their entries will both appear here in the Fashion MAP blog, and both will get to shoot with model Briauna Mariah, with Dave Ward Photography behind the camera.

Here is the winning entry written by Olivia Ding. Kristena's entry will appear in a few days.Hello love,

I'm going to tell you a bit about posing.

When I get in front of the camera, I don't freeze. I do even worse: I try too hard.

Sometimes freezing in front of the camera works out because you could get something good! But I just go into overdrive. I try to take everything anyone has ever told me about what to do, and try to do it all at the same time. Trust me love, this does not work out. When you try to push something into a picture, when you try to exude happiness or intensity, you won't. Instead, you'll just look like you just got punched in the gut by a small person.

You have to feel happy, to feel just everything you want to portray to the camera bubble up inside of you, and you will potentially get something strong, something gorgeous. People tell me to think back to a memory, or of an important person in my life. Anything that will bring you to a place where you feel comfortable and you can do anything. Where you are just you. Because really, when you're in front of a camera, in possibly one of the most unnatural situations you can be in, all anyone wants is for you to act natural.